Latest News

[01 July 2019]

Recently a Bumble Bee Nest was discovered on the Triangle, so a local Bee expert came along and carefully removed the nest along with the bees. These were relocated to an area at the end of his garden and he has been photographing and observing them since. In July they will then split up and the new queens will set up home in the woodland nearyby.

Clive is a fascinating man, he told me that as some food wrapping had been put into the composter this had attracted mice, their nest in turn attracted the Tree Bumble Bees as a mouse nest is one of their preferred homes. The mice then had to relocate and the bees moved in.

The nest removal was carried out in 2 trips, first Clive (kitted up in protective clothing) found the nest and placed it into a special box with a small entrance for the bees, which he returned to the original location. That evening, after dark as the bees will all have returned to the nest from their foraging, he then came back (again kitted up this time with infrared lights to see in the dark) and removed box with the nest from the composter closing the small door to keep the bees inside.

Clive then spent the next hour or so rummaging about in the compost bin collecting all the bees that had not yet made it back to the nest into tiny pots. Most pots had 2 or 3 bees in each and there were over 50 pots.

Clive has offered to carry out a talk about his fascinating hobby. Please follow the Events page for details on date and location. The talk is open to MAA members for a charge of £1.00 per person. Please let me know if you are interested by sending a message through the Contact page.

[01 Sep 2019]

On 28th August MAA organised a talk by Clive Hill on Bumble Bees, being a renowned expert in this field of study.

Bumble bees are important pollinators for fruit and vegetables and therefore of great importance to allotments.

The talk was attended by 15 members who all found this fascinating and Clive presented the topic very well, covering many areas regarding wild bees including the variety, their habitat and the best plants & flowers to grow to attract them, along with details of those that do not attract bees.

Attached are some leaflets that he brought along, if anyone would like to know more about bumble bees please go to the website: www.bumblebeeconservation.org. If any members that could not attend would like another talk to be arranged please contact Sylvia or email us at: marlowallotmentassociation@gmail.com.

We plan to carry out a talk and demonstration of security systems on Saturday July 13th at 2.30pm. This will be held at Hanging Hill site and there will be someone manning the main entrance to admit and guide those from Foxes Piece to the demonstration area. There will be no charge for this, but for seating purposes I need an idea of numbers, so please let me know if you would like to come along – if possible please bring a chair with you. The idea is that those who wish to can have a camera system set up on their plot which would film or photo movement on the plot for instance to see the wildlife that visit when you are not there.

It is important that the view of the camera is not set to film any communal areas such as the pathway or another persons plot. As you may be aware it is a requirement that others are notified that if you have a camera system in use on your plot.

I have consulted with Marlow Town Council regarding this matter, they have given their approval that notices can be posted at each entrance of both sites notifying others that there are camera systems on the site. This means that anyone can have a camera system on their plot and they do not need to notify anyone or get permission for this. There are quite a few different products on the market, the talk will cover some of these and give you an idea of cost and how they work.

Should this prove to be popular we may repeat this a few weeks later, so those unable to make this one can come along then.

Update [10 July 2019]

Unfortunately, the speaker for this meeting is incapacitated with a knee problem and is unable to get about at present, Therefore the meeting this Saturday is now cancelled. However, he is preparing a summary of his speech giving advice and instructions regarding the options available, which I will circulate to all tenants, along with posters around both sites informing those without email.

Marlow Town Council have agreed that notices can be erected at every entrance to both sites, advising anyone who enters that there are surveillance cameras in use on the site. This means any tenant can have a camera/filming device set up on their plot to enable those that wish to do so, to film the wildlife activity on their plot when they are not present without the need to ask permission or even mention this to anyone else. As previously mentioned, this device should not be aimed at any public areas such as main pathways or another persons plot. Once he is able to there will be a practical demonstration for those interested in attending.

Mature Manure

[01 July 2019]

A tenant has arranged with someone with a huge quantity of mature manure that we can collect this for the allotment. This is very friable and no longer has a strong aroma of its origins. The arrangement is that we go along in a group and bag up as much as we would like. If you do not have a vehicle you can team up with someone that does. Please let me know if you are interested and preferred days/dates so we can arrange with the owner a visit.

Update [10 July 2019]

Unfortunately, our contact for the manure collection is incapacitated for a month or so. Therefore the arrangements cannot be made at present. If I am able to source another location I will let you know, the trouble is that other sources may not be a matured as this is. Otherwise I will contact those who have requested to be part of this when this can be arranged. In the meantime there is currently a large quantity of compost sold at greatly reduced prices by Hilliers who have taken over Wyevale, Little Marlow and are getting rid of Wyevale stock that they inherited.